Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The idea from the beginning was to do two prints. First I wanted to print them at the same time to try to optimize the costs. But then I realize that it might be a bit risky since if there's something wrong with one piece I will have to reprint in double. And of course it did happen but luckily with the two pieces quite cheap, the pin in the back of the head to lock the sickles and the front part of the launcher.
And I'm even more happy that I've done that in two steps, since I was able to revise a bit the model for the arms. When I've put together the first print, the arms looked a bit too straight and the hand also and on the original Garada, the hands seem to be a bit more turned to the inside.

So here it is, the second version, a bit more accurate. Pretty cool to put them side by side on my table, but now the real hard work will begin, sanding, sanding and sanding for days....weeks....
But I have to say that this print looks more smooth than the Rokuron I did in the past, they're probably enhance the resolution of the print since then.

Here's the picts, as you can see the arms on the right one are a bit more bended and the hands more to the inside, it's subtle but makes a lot of difference to the global stance.
But I know it's a huge luxury to be able to do that since normally I only do one single print.

And on this last picture you can see that the arms are articulated, it was missing on the Rokuron, I had to glue the whole toy, now on this one, I only have to glue the legs to the pelvis and the body too, the arms can rotate and the sickles is removable so that he will fit perfectly in his box. Because yes, I'd like to make him a box too, there's no reason why the little one can have a box and not the big brother.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Ok ok I know, it's another post with Garada K7 related stuff.
But hey, once you have a 3D file it's always funny to test and experiment stuff with it.
For the tiny Q9 I've test a 3D printer and I wanted to test it even more but back then, the company had huge problems with delivery schedule. The tiny Q9 was hollow and I wanted to print something but plain to have the transparent feeling more strong. So I checked and it seems that the schedule problem was long gone and so I've launch a test print with a tiny Garada. The result is pretty impressive, this printer have a really good resolution, way much better than the one I'm using to print the full size version, but more expensive also. For each size and each project there's a more suitable 3D printer and it's good to know a bit more about those to optimize each project.

So here's a little quick and dirty pict of this tiny Garada. Now I'm tempted to cans it a bit and then paint it, but the transparent feeling is great. Maybe I need to order another one :))

As you can see, he's standing on a can and he's pretty small, around 8 cm high. Funny to look at this tiny guy.

And here's a little edit with extra pict of this tiny guy next to his brother, the mini Garada K7, as you can see I've build him a tiny box too.

Monday, February 20, 2012

I was pretty happy with the design of the boxes I've done for the mini villains, based on the original design of the first serie. But little Garada and little Rokuron are from second serie then I had in mind all the time that it could be cool to push the detail to the next level and have a mini replica of the original box of this second serie.
Well, those of you familiar with those bad boys know how hard it is to find a boxed second serie villain. But a good friend and fellow collector who owns those precious boxes helped me and provided me with high resolution pictures of his and after a little stop by photoshop, then the print shop, here they are.

They are a bit too big compare to the little guys but it's because I had to match the depth and little Garada is pretty deep with his launcher and the trigger in the back. I still have to work on the insterts to put them properly and safely in their new boxes.

I'm still not sure of which version I prefer, on the previous one there's only the main character displayed:

And on the new one there's of course the whole second serie, so maybe I will have to do the whole set to be give this new box the real meaning of it. Hey but that's a hell of a job :))

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Well, this is the first post of 2012 and for this first one it's time for big news.
Enough with 3D render images, time for real stuff here.

I've been busy like hell at my "official" job but I was able to continue working on this and finally launch the 3D print of a full size Garada.
I guess that it's not a mystery for anyone reading this that I'm kind of obsessed with this guy, and even if I'm a proud owner of a replica of the original I needed to make my own replica.
Basically after the print of the small version during this summer, I've work a fine tuning the model to be more accurate to the original, since it's printed in full size, there was a lot of work for redoing all the wall thickness on each part. I wanted it to be more articulated and have the launcher able to work but that's something you already know if you've follow this blog. I know I've probably mess a few stuff compare to an original, like the size of the launcher is probably too big and there's maybe other stuff weird like I'm symmetrical on hands and the original not but the overall look is there I think.

The production of this full size print was really interesting and I've learn some great stuff about how to optimize my prints for this specific printing process. But that's technical stuff and I'm not going to loose your time with this.

What you have to know is that I've work with Materialise, the same company who printed my Rokuron Q9 and the Daltanious head and once again they've done an amazing job. They offer an amazing service and you really see that they know what they're doing. So a big thanks to them.

I've just pick up my print this morning and here's the first image, completely raw before the long post process steps, sanding, drilling the rivets, mechanical parts for the launcher and finally painting. But the good news is that all parts are connecting perfectly and everything seems to be like it was in my head. The arms are raising, the launcher connect perfectly. When I've receive my package this morning at Materialise Headquarters I couldn't resist to open the box and put all the pieces together. I was really impressive to see it printed so big, incredible feeling.

Here's a few pict to see a bit this fantastic character. There's a few alone and then there's a side by side with a real Doublas to get an idea and then finally there's a side by side with the replica I own to check for size and all that.

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be busy for weeks to finalize this guy but stay tune for the evolution of this project and for the next stuff to come.
This blog start to look more and more like a huge dedication to Garada and this need to change a bit :))

About Me

What do you need to know about me?
Well, I was born in 73 and like people of that age I grew up with super robots and amazing toys. I collect Jumbo Machinders but you probably already know that. I'm passionate about 3D and this site is a good way to mix those two passions and have some fun. Because it's all about that, enjoying my free time and use it to make something fun and creative.